By taking part in the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), farmers are assessed against a total of 13 statutory management requirements (SMRs) and seven standards for Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAEC). Here are the five most common cross-compliance non-compliances found in respect of 2017 scheme year inspections:

1SMR 7 – Cattle Identification and Registration

This was the most common non-compliance found on farms. Common breaches related to:

  • Tagging irregularities such as animals missing tags, animals not tagged within 20 days of birth or animals missing both ear tags.
  • AIMS database irregularities, such as failure to notify movements, births and deaths to the database within seven days of the event.
  • Passport discrepancies, such as no passports for purchased animals, missing passports and surplus passports.
  • 2 SMR 1 Protection of Water against Pollution caused by Nitrates

  • Inadequate collection of livestock manure, other organic fertilisers, soiled water or silage effluent.
  • Failure to minimise the generation of soiled water.
  • Inadequate management of the storage facilities for livestock manure, other organic fertilisers, soiled water or silage effluent.
  • 3 SMR 8 – Sheep and Goat Identification and Registration

  • Tagging irregularities such as sheep not tagged, tagged incorrectly (no EID tag), missing both tags or adult sheep missing one ear tag.
  • Failures to adequately maintain a flock register.
  • 4 Good Agricultural & Environmental Condition (GAEC)

  • GAEC 5 (Minimum land Management Reflecting Site Specific Conditions to Limit Erosion) - The aim of GAEC 5 is to protect soil from erosion or poaching of land. This is a particular problem with sacrifice paddocks and failing to regularly move supplementary feeding points.
  • GAEC 7 (Retention of Landscape Features & Designated habitats and Controlling Invasive Species and Noxious weeds) – The aim of GAEC 7 is to ensure the protection of both landscape features and designated habitats and also to ensure the control of invasive species and noxious weeds.
  • 5 SMR 10 – Plant Protection Products (Pesticides)

  • Non-compliances relating to product registration.
  • Non-compliances relating to failure to display a warning sign on a chemical store.
  • Non-compliances relating to storage facilities.
  • Non-compliances relating to failure to maintain adequate records.